Edited: Direct solder tail wires = 5 mins aggressive flight?

[Jskrapper]

Does this sound logical?

For some reason I ended up pulling a solder out of my plug on the 3 in 1 and I was worried about unwanted contact issues. I decided to solder the tail motor wires directly on the board where the old plug was. I have limited soldering skills and equipment so I made do with what I had and even still, it was surprisingly easy to pull the old plug out and solder the wires directly in.

5 minute flights and the tail came down cool. Almost no blowouts, but could be the placebo effect. This is not really intended to be a worthwhile mod, but if somebody tries it, please post your results.

Test flight

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m29LzG7Prn4[/ame]

Seems to work okay for a stock and cracked tail boom. Pic is showing how much twist in the boom.



and here is a closeup of the soldering :...

[755 robert]

Interesting.You are eliminating resistance,I would think you should notice an improvement...

[Jskrapper]

Thanks Robert!

I edited the title because I have been getting back to back to back 5 minute flights without having to deal with the tail issues that I noticed prior to doing this after 3 1/2 minutes. Every flight is really strong in terms of tail hold (relative to what we have come to expect), yet it is still possible to blow it out all the way, or a little.

[755 robert]

I think you have eliminated a weak link in this system,I have not been impressed with the fit with these little plugs.Although it would be a POS,I would bet direct solder of both motors would increase performance quite a bit..

[Jskrapper]

I agree 100% about less resistance, but that much?

If that is the case, I am soldering my main tonight on my spare haha. But then I am possibly at the limits of the stock pack and connector there.

I wish I had my multimeter.

[755 robert]

Originally Posted by Jskrapper

I agree 100% about less resistance, but that much?

If that is the case, I am soldering my main tonight on my spare haha. But then I am possibly at the limits of the stock pack and connector there.

I wish I had my multimeter.

Please report your results,I am seriously considering doing this.I have noticed that with some of the small high performance brushless setups the motors are soldered directly to the esc..

[Naito]

huh, if the connection is causing that much power loss in the tail, has anyone tried putting some kind of conductive grease in the plug to make a better connection perhaps?

[ChaosShadow00x]

lol not bad... Have fun replacing that when your tail busts as it will in time...

However, perhaps a different, high current connector would be appreciable? Like micro deans? If they dont weigh too much that is.

[Jskrapper]

Originally Posted by ChaosShadow00x

lol not bad... Have fun replacing that when your tail busts as it will in time...

When I kill the tail motor or boom, I will do my usual solder at the motor technique.

[Airworks]

only thing i could think if there is this much improvment is , that the pins that the leads solder too , is some not good cunducting material. i fi get a tail issue, ill give it a try.

buy a piece of 2mm carbon rod man! 2dollar boom fix

[Jskrapper]

Originally Posted by Airworks

buy a piece of 2mm carbon rod man! 2dollar boom fix

Exactly...I was one of the first on my block with the extended boom. Hell, I even tried SR120 tail motor wiring (thicker gauge) with great results.

I would love to see if it's just in my mind so hopefully someone else may risk burning up their 3 in 1 in the name of science.

[John San]

I would think there is a low likelyhood of burning up the 3 in 1 as long as the stock motor and wiring is being used.
What would worry me is, if the tail section and motor was ripped off.
That's happened to me twice now, crashing head first into a rose bush type plant. The tail rotor got caught up and snatched the connector out of the 3 in 1. The tail motor and wire were in one part of the bush and the rest of the bird went deeper in.
If the wires are soldered in, it may crack or break the pcb.
Becomes an expensive fix....

Maybe a dab of CA glue to hold the wires on the body might stop that. With an extended boom, the wires are not long enough to wrap around the canopy mounts to resist pulling. Maybe lengthen the wire to do this?

Just a bit of info from my experience.

[aack73]

possibly. but i think those little mickey mouse wires would break first, maybe even right at the solder. that solder and board are stronger than those tiny wires. the ca would be a good idea for another anchor point.

[ransideous]

nice work joeand thanks for being the first to try the tail wire mod, i wasn't game till i saw someone else do it. with cut down blades and tail wire from a satelite ext. cable i've had vast improvement but still blows occasionally. might have to try this.....it's tempting.....

[ransideous]

@john san and aack
or you could hit th/h........

[snemi00]

I have 2 mcpx setups. On one of them I kept the stock battery and have been direct soldering the tail wires to the board for a month or so. The other one has the Hyperion 240 batteries with deans and I kept the tail wires with the connector. The direct soldering definately makes a difference, as even with the stock batteries and standard length boom, the tail holds pretty well.
I am going to direct solder my Hyperion setup as well just for that last 10% performance squeeze.

I am not sure if this is for the average guy that does not feel comfortable with a soldering iron. I've been doing it for years and found it quite easy to do. But you do need to be careful with the heat and have a nice small tip on your iron.

I think some heavier gauge Magnet wire will be my next step.

[Rob0506]

I haven't tried this with my MCPx yet, but with the 120SR I would use some dikes to cut off the plastic part of the connector (it's real easy, just cut down between the sockets in the connector and it pops apart). This leaves the two little metal sockets connected to the wire and exposed. I can then just slip them on and add a drop of solder.

I found this to be an easy way to replace the tail motor on my 120SR once I replaced the wiring. It's almost as easy as plugging it in and adding goop to keep the connector on.

I'm not at all surprised that there was a performance boost, those connectors are real loose, but it is more than I expected. I think I'll have to try it out.

[Jskrapper]

Great! I am happy that it's not just in my head. I am about to do it with an extended boom and SR120 wiring...stock pack still...but I might convert it to micro deans to see what happens. If I feel ambitious enough, I will do the main motor too.

[Heli-Yeah!]

Originally Posted by Jskrapper

I would love to see if it's just in my mind so hopefully someone else may risk burning up their 3 in 1 in the name of science.

Originally Posted by snemi00

On one of them I kept the stock battery and have been direct soldering the tail wires to the board for a month or so.

Count me in!
Just let me warm up my soldering iron.
Hell if this goes well I may just start direct soldering my packs to the 3-n-1

(DISCLAIMER- thats only a joke noobs )

[Sickboy]

I think the plugs are a bit loose on the tail motor. Perhaps just tinning the two pins so they are a tighter fit would be as effective as a direct solder.

(didn't read the whole of this thread so if someone has suggested this or something similar sorry)